Claymore: The Seer's Revelations
by XxDreamersWishXx
Summary: My first Claymore fanfiction ever! This story will be centered around Rene my OC who is from the mainland but is taken to the Claymore islands place. It will be about Rene's journey through becomming a Claymore in the time when Teresa and Irene and such are still trainees with her.
1. Prologue

Claymore: The Seer's Revelations

**Prologue**

The sun scorched the desert land outside as two men in black cloaks conferred in a rock building cut out from the Cliffside. Wind and sand blew in from the arrow slit windows as the leader of the organization gave the hooded man his new orders.

"The mainland has not been very . . . Cooperative with us lately. We must remind them of why we're here."

The hooded man gave an unseen smirk and replied in a harsh whisper-like voice, "so what would you have me do, Rimuto-Samma?"

"Take ship to the mainland and loose a yoma on the port town of Shiro. Spread death and destruction and make it impossible for our associates on the mainland to ignore. We will remind them of the threat that the Dragon Descendents pose to us!"

Rimuto shifted angrily on his seat and banged his fist onto the stone throne's armrest. He took a deep breath to get his temper under control, and then said more calmly, "you are dismissed."

The cloaked man didn't move. He cleared his throat and said, "what about any survivors?"

Rimuto's face became cloaked in shadow as a cloud blocked the sun's rays from entering the room. His thin, wispy hair circling the crown of his head looked like the thin fabric of a burial shroud and his wrinkly forehead looked like it had been covered in a thick plating of leather. He looks similar to the monster that he wanted to send to the mainland, but he claimed to be fully human.

"I don't expect there to be any survivors," Rimuto calmly replied. "But if there is one, then you can have her, I suppose. You have another experiment in mind, don't you, Dae?"

"Oh yes," Dae rasped. "One that can deplete the number of betrayals to the organization."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Betrayal of Innocence

The sun shone irregularly through the canopy of leaves and created beautiful patches of color randomly throughout the forest. René could hear shushed whispers and shuffled movement as she counted down from 30.

"Twenty-nine, twenty-eight . . ." The wind picked up and René's long braid gently bumped against the middle of her back. She smiled at the feeling with her face hidden against her arm up against the counting tree.

"Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen . . ."

"Hey! This is my hiding spot!" She heard someone whisper.

Renée and her friend Emily had gotten the other village children of their port town to play hide and seek with them. Now there were nine kids running about the forest on the top of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. And the kids desperately needed this playtime. With the threat of war hanging over their shoulders for over 100 years, their elders have all been very tense, keeping the children on tight leashes. In the town of Shiro, the children have had to step lightly to avoid getting into trouble, being that mostly everyone's tempers were on short fuses.

"Eight, seven, six . . ."

René heard a rustling in the bushes to her right and guessed that someone had decided to hide in the most obvious of places. A little twig from a tree not far from hers was broken off. René couldn't hear it hit the ground but she was pretty sure that someone was in that tree trying to get more comfortable. She wondered why these kids couldn't find better hiding spots. They had the whole forest, after all. It doesn't matter, she decided, it would just make her role easier.

"THREE TWO ONE!" René shouted quickly. She lifted her head from her arm and ran straight for the kid hiding in the bushes. It was one of the bigger, older boys, but that didn't matter, because René got him before he even had a chance to get up.

"Found you!" She shouted laughingly as she tagged him.

"No fair!" The boy yelled angrily. "You cheated!"

"No, I didn't."

"You must've! How else would you have been able to find me so quickly?" He demanded.

"How could I not have found you so quickly? You were right there!" René pointed to the bush beside them. "And you were moving around and being very loud! There's also someone in that tree. Over there. I heard both of you!" René took a deep breath. "Anyway, it's your turn to seek."

A look of rage crossed the boy's face and he shoved René, who almost fell from the strength of it, and walked stiffly to the counting tree. The other kids had timidly come out from their hiding spots at the yelling, their curiosity overcoming their fear of the older, bigger boy, Greaves, who was known to be a bully.

René turned away indignation and brushed imaginary dirt off from her clothes. She really hated this boy who thought he was better than everyone else, but had invited him to play with them anyway. Hide and seek was more fun with more people, after all.

"Watch out!" A girl suddenly screamed.

René jumped and turned around only to see Greaves charging at her with a big stick and brutality shining his eyes.

René leapt backwards as Greaves swung down right where she had been standing. The stick smashed into the ground creating a little dent in the dirt. Greaves grunted from the force of the impact. René stared in shock at the boy who had tried to hurt her.

"What is wrong with you!" She screamed. "You could have killed me!" Greaves looked at her blankly then the rage and hatred returned to his eyes again. He roared his fury and tackled her to the ground.

René couldn't breathe. All of the air had been knocked from her lungs in the fall. She saw Greaves stand and raise his stick high above his head for a blow that was sure to knock her out. René's eyes widened in fear and her chest rose with reclaimed breath. Nobody was going to help her. She knew that everyone was too afraid of Greaves to stand up to him. She needed to do something fast.

Her hands swept across the ground for something, anything that could help her. Her fingers brushed against the thickness of a stick. Greaves swung with all of his might and René closed her eyes, bringing the stick up horizontally across her face with both of her hands.

The impact broke her stick, sending the two halves of it biting into her throat. René winced as she felt the blood well up on her neck, but the wounds were superficial. She opened her eyes and saw Greaves staring at her with a look of horror and fear. The stick fell from his hands and he took a few uncertain steps back, before he finally turned and fled down the trail to the town.

René scooted up to a sitting position and saw the eyes of all the children on her. They had varying looks of awe, astonishment, and fear on their faces. René gently touched her neck, and then looked at the blood on her hand. She realized that her neck stung painfully where it was cut.

"That was amazing!" A boy exclaimed, breaking the silence. "That big bully, Greaves was like 'ROAR!' and you were like 'Hey!' and he was like 'Die!' and you were like 'Nuh uh, no way!' and you totally blocked, like, the strongest swing ever! Your stick even broke! But that chump ran away!" He took a big breath of air and sighed out, "Wow . . ."

"Are you okay?" Her friend asked, cautiously walking towards René. "Your neck . . ." Emily murmured.

René didn't want to be here surrounded by all of these kids, her friends. Not with all of the released tension in the air, the awe, respect, or even care. She wanted to wash her hands free of the blood on them. She wanted her neck to stop bleeding and hurting it to get away from all of these eyes. René stood up shakily and Emily rushed to help her. She roughly pushed Emily's arms away from her and ran off, stumbling, deeper into the woods.

"Hey!"

"Come back!"

"Where are you going?"

Their voices followed her as she pushed through bushes and low hanging tree branches. Twigs tore at her skin and clothes, but René didn't notice. She only concentrated on getting away from them, from the events that had just occurred.

She finally stopped, gasping for breath, and bent over with her hands on her knees, looking at the ground. Her pants were pattered with tiny little tears from her mad dash through the woods and she could feel shallow cuts on her arms and face. The dried blood was making her neck and hands feel dirty and uncomfortable and slightly hindered their range of movement. Her blue eyes felt moist and she realized that she was crying. She could feel the tear tracks through the dirt on her face.

Angrily, she scrubbed at her eyes. This is no reason to cry, she thought. I don't want to cry. This is stupid! René sniffled and straightened up. Why did she even run away in the first place? She survived that giant oaf, she could face up to a few admiring kids. She sniffed again and rubbed her neck. It didn't really hurt anymore, but the dried blood was itchy. René looked around and heard the sound of rushing water back the way she had come. She retraced her footsteps to the creek and wondered why she hadn't realized that she had passed it on her run over here. It didn't matter. She stepped into the knee-high water and washed the blood from her neck and hands. Her face felt all grimy, so she washed that to. Running a hand across her braided dirty-blonde hair, she realized that there were twigs and leaves entangled within the strands. It also felt absolutely filthy. René took out her braid and brushed her fingers through her butt length hair. It was way too long. René decided that she would cut it shorter as soon as she went back to the village. Maybe a little past shoulder length? She splashed water onto her hair and washed it the best she could, then she started the long trek back to the village.

Since she was already on top of the cliff, René decided that she would take the longer way back to look out over the ocean.

Something wasn't right. The sun was setting over the ocean like always and there was a slight breeze that ruffled her now loose hair as per the usual, and the waves were still rolling gently across the shore and a little roughly against the cliff, but something was different. René could smell in the air and see it in the way the sea birds were circling around the shoreline and the town. Was the water slightly more red than usual in the fading sunlight, or was that just her imagination?

In the fading light, René saw a stream of smoke rising from the village. There's more smoke than usual, René thought. Did something happen? A sick, soggy crashing sound was heard right below her at the bottom of the cliff. René carefully inched forward and peered over the edge.

It was a body. A body was being crushed against the cliff side with the waves! René looked down and realized there were more, similar dark shapes peppering the shoreline, being carried by the waves. René felt sick. Just what was going on? Had Shiro been attacked? But there had been no sounds of cannon fire. No furious roars from the Dragon Kin. No one sounded the alarm!

The wind suddenly picked up, carrying with it faint cries from the village and port. People were screaming! They were being attacked! But by who? René saw no enemy ships. She had to do something! Maybe she could help! René backed away from the Cliff's edge and sprinted through the forest, running faster than she ever had in her life.

At the outskirts of the village Shiro, she was shocked to a stop by the macabre scene. Bodies littered the streets, and could be seen through the windows of burning houses. There was Mr. Handael, the shopkeeper, and his wife clutched together forever in the cold embrace of Death. She had just been to their shop yesterday to buy some flour for mother. She stared on in a daze as a handful of survivors fled screaming from the burning town hall. It seemed they were running from her . . . "Uncle," she whispered. He had been lost at sea for nearly a month, and now he was back! Why was everyone running from him?

"Uncle," She rasped out with tears in her eyes. "Uncle!" She managed a little louder. She was about to run to him to hug him and welcome him when, suddenly, he stopped chasing after the other villagers. His body began to shake . . . And change. He looked like he was shedding out of his human skin. In her uncle's place was left a monster. It towered over the tallest survivors by a foot and had bulging muscles and sharp claws on its hands and feet. Glowing yellow eyes peered out of a monstrous head with no hair and a mouth too big to be fitting, and teeth sharper than the most feral of dogs. His dark-gray colored skin looked appropriately of Death.

The monster leaped and stabbed his clawed hand through the chest of one of the men. Blood gurgled from his dead lips… The man had died on impact. The monster withdrew his hand, clutching the man's heart in its fist. It brought the heart to its lips and took a big chunk out of it. Blood squirted down its chin.

"Mmmn. Tasty." Its monstrous voice rumbled. "But I want more."

Yoma, the word whispered through René's battered mind. Yoma. From the stories. They are real! There was a rumor, a legend really, of a secret organization that used the flesh and blood of the Dragon Kin to try to create monsters more powerful than their predecessors who would obey the will of the organization. This must be one of them, but why is it attacking us?

"Ahhh!" The survivors screamed as the monster, the Yoma, had somehow elongated his clawed fingers into long, spear-like whips. They had pierced the bodies of the remaining survivors who fell to the ground either dead or dying.

René couldn't look away from the carnage, couldn't move, couldn't think. Even as the yoma tore into the guts of a faintly screaming woman, René couldn't look away. Her mind had shut down.

"René," a girl's voice coughed. "René!"

René's eyes met with the source of the call, though her head didn't move. It was her friend, Emily. She was lying on her back and coughing up blood with a hole in her gut. René could see her intestines dangling out from the side of the hole and gagged in disgust.

"Run," Emily gurgled through the blood in her throat once their eyes met. It was so disjointed and quiet that Renée could barely hear her. "Run." Cough "and survive." Cough, cough. "Live… for us. Live… for… us . . . ." Her breathes came quicker and harsher and she closed her eyes. René was petrified with fear and sorrow.

A man's scream pierced the air, breaking René from her stupor. She would survive. She ran. Her feet carried her to the cliff, overlooking the ocean. They failed her before she could exit the tree line. René collapsed in exhaustion. She heard a faint chuckle to her left and with her fading vision she spotted a man swathed in a black cloak. Her gaze surged upward see his face, but her body could take no more.

The last thing she heard was the man's gravelly voice, "I think they learned their lesson." She passed out.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Pain**

"What do you . . . .?"

"Shh! She's waking up. We'll begin the operation shortly."

René's consciousness slowly slipped back to her. She took deep, reviving breaths and smelled . . . blood. There was old blood in this room along with a scent of some strange foreign liquids. Her head hurt; she tried to lift her arm, but it was held down by something. What had happened to her? Why is she here? She remembered smoke rising to the clouds and something about the ocean. There was screaming . . . she gasped. Her village of been attacked! She peeled her eyes open and blinked rapidly to get the grid out from them.

Bright light shone down on her from the ceiling and she squinted. René could make out stone walls and a table adorned with horrifying looking metal equipment. There was a wicked looking curved blade, a jar full of what looked like - she blanched - a monster's flesh and blood. Her eyes met with other, smaller, but just as dangerous looking tools lined up neatly on the table, along with a syringe and a needle about 6 inches long. Her eyes widened panic. She had to get out of here!

René struggled to sit up, but for the first time she realized that she was restrained by something cold. Thick metal chains held down her limbs, including her head, making it impossible to move an inch. She was cold, and now that Renée noticed it, she could smell the chill metallic scent of the metal. The odor lay on her naked body and René panicked. What are they going to do to me? No matter how much she struggled and squirmed, she could not get free.

"Ahem," a man cleared his throat. "Good, you are finally awake, and it seems that the chains are holding out perfectly."

René stilled. She knew that voice. That harsh, gravely, slightly raspy voice. She'd heard it once before. On the Cliff, overlooking Shiro. He had said something that Renée could just barely remember. Something about learning a lesson. She found him with her eyes standing beside the table of violent tools. He was wearing the same clothes, but the room's a bright light shone under his cowl allowing René to see his face. It was monstrous. The left half of his face was horribly scarred and it looked like his eyeball could pop out at any moment. The scar around his lips looked like fangs. Maybe they were, René thought. He is a monster if he is the one responsible for destroying my home.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked politely.

"You." René glowered. "You were there. Was it you sent that monster somehow? That yoma?"

He chuckled. "Oh, so it seems you do remember what we do here. I saved you from that yoma." He leaned forward and his disgusting face filled René's vision. "I rescued you from that pathetic little town."

Anger flashed through René's mind. How dare he? She spat in his face. The man growled in disgust and stood back up, wiping spittle off his face.

"Don't worry," he said menacingly. "You will soon forget it all. But first, what is your name?"

René closed her eyes - since she couldn't move anything else - and refused to answer. The man growled, and René heard a cling from the table. She felt something cold and sharp on the inside of her left arm. René peaked open an eye and saw that wickedly curved blade pressed up against her arm.

"W-what are you doing? Get that thing away from me!"

He smirked and cut into her arm. René squeaked in pain as red blood streamed onto the table. He had cut her just above the vein on her forearm and there was plenty of blood.

"Your name?"

René pursed her lips and defiance. Her arm was just starting to hurt after the initial shock of the cut, and the pain brought unshed tears to the girl's eyes. The man hissed in annoyance and held the knife to René's throat.

"W-wait!" A man at the far end of the room that Renée hadn't noticed before called out. He was wrapped in black cloth like a mummy with the exception of his eyes and mouth. "S-s-sorry, Dae-Samma, but I thought we were going to do the operation on this one . . . ."

"Don't worry. I won't kill her . . . yet. I just need to know her name. So," Dae asked her, "What is it?"

René closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore her cruel tormentor. She didn't know exactly why she wouldn't just tell him her name, but for some reason, her instincts were screaming against it. And since she was chained to a bloody stone table with a knife to her throat, she was highly inclined to listen to her instincts.

Dae had had enough of this child's stubborn disobedience. He dug the blade into the hollow of the girl's throat. Not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to leave a scar; Even with the flesh and blood of the older yoma he was about to put inside of her.

René bit back a scream and whimpered as the blood welled up on her neck. It felt like the bad man had dug a hole in her throat. The pain was unfathomably worse than her arm was.

"It could be worse," Dae said, indifferently.

René's breaths came in ragged pants. She wanted the man-monster to stop hurting her. She wanted the pain to go away. _ It's just a name,_ her mind whispered. _ What harm can he do with a name?_

"It hurts . . ." René whispered. "It hurts, it hurts." _ It's only a name. Say it, and make the pain go away._

"M-my name . . ."

"Yes, yes? What is it? What is your name?" Dae leaned forward in anticipation.

". . . is René."

"What? I can't hear you."

"My name is René."

"Good, good. Finally!" Dae made a gesture which René couldn't see to the man in the back of the room. It said: come, it is time to begin.

René opened her eyes. "So that's it, right? You'll let me go now?"

"Oh, no, little girl. René. I haven't even begun." Dae picks up the full syringe and René's eyes widened in fear. He noticed and smiled menacingly. "Don't worry. This will only hurt . . . A lot." He put the needle against the right side of her head where the scull doesn't completely protect the brain and chants like a mantra, "your name is René, René, René. Your name . . . ."

"No!" René screamed. "Get that thing away from me! No! No! No! No! No!" She struggled against her binds but couldn't move at all.

He stuck the needle in. It entered her brain and Dae injected her with the formula he had created to make the patient forget every event and person in their past.

René screamed. She had never felt so much pain before in her life. She just wanted to die. Her memories were fading. She couldn't remember the name of her hometown. Did she have any brothers and sisters? Mamma . . . I don't remember you! Who are my mama and papa? Her past was being locked away behind black doors shrouded in darkness. The only thing penetrating the darkness, beating constantly like a drum was, "René. Your name is René." Her voice was becoming hoarse from screaming. She could feel her heart beating slower and slower as her consciousness faded away . . .

_Survive. Live for us._ The words came from a fading memory. She couldn't remember who had said them or why._ Survive. Live for . . ._ It was fading._ Survive. Live . . . Survive. Survive. Survive!_ Why is that word running through my head?

"René."

_Survive!_ Her heartbeat sped up, back to a safe pace.

"René . . . René!"

She gasped. Through slit eyes she saw the ugliest man in the world. Her head hurt. No, that was an understatement. Her brain had been set on fire and then thrust through a garbage disposal. She could hardly think.

"You're awake." The scarred, ugly man said. "What is your name?"

"It's René." She muttered through her pain.

"Where are you from, René?"

"I . . . I don't know . . ."

The man looked at her curiously. "Who are your parents? Do you have any siblings?"

"I don't . . . remember . . . . Why don't I remember anything?" She panicked.

"Hush now, it's okay. I'm sure you can make new memories as a warrior. A Claymore."

"New memories . . . as a Claymore?"

"Yes, fighting monsters called yoma and protecting the humans from them."

"Oh . . . you mean I'll never remember my past?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Why?"

The scarred, hooded man looked puzzled for a moment before replying, "you must've been in a traumatic experience and been terribly hurt emotionally. I don't know what happened to you, but we, the organization, found you nearly dead by the sea and decided to take you in."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then I must thank you, but I don't even know your name."

"My name is Dae and you can thank us by becoming a warrior and fighting the yoma."

"O-kay . . . thank you, Dae."

Dae smiled, causing his scarred face to contort even more and making him look extra hideous. René didn't want to say anything bad about her rescuer, though, so she dealt with a disturbing sight silently.

"You're welcome. Now, in order for you to become a warrior, you have to undergo a surgical operation. It is best just to get it over with so I will start now. Brace yourself, this will hurt a lot!"

Without her notice, Dae had picked up his curved knife which he used to cut open René's chest vertically between her breasts. René screamed. She screamed and screamed until her throat became too parched to make a sound and her vocal cords were worn with use. René saw Dae open a jar filled with something red before everything went black.

"_Don't worry. This will hurt . . . a lot!" _The words floated through René's black space. But that wasn't what Dae said! With that last thought, Rene's mind shut down.

"_Now forget your past!" He stuck the needle in. Her memories were getting closed away behind locked doors camouflaged in darkness . . ._

René groaned and slowly sat up. That had been the worst dream ever! For someone to be so cruel as to make you forget your past . . . it's unthinkable. But I don't remember my past, René thought. Could Dae have- René clutched her head in blinding pain. She didn't notice before when her mind was in a sleepy haze and her body was numb, but she was in agony now. Her chest burned like was on fire and the pain was slowly spreading through the rest of her body. With every beat of her heart, more of her blood boiled with pain. The pounding in her head was nothing compared to the fire in her veins.

"It hurts," she whimpered.

Her body felt constricted and she noticed that she was wearing a white jumpsuit-like outfit. It hugged her body. René was not used to wearing such formfitting clothing, but any uncomfort she felt from it was masked by the pain. A damp chill seeped onto her through the hard surface she was slumped on. She was in a stone cell. It looked like a dungeon complete with metal bars and mildew. The whole cell was about the size the small garage. Two wooden beds on opposite sides of the room were the only accessories. The lack of a mattress or any kind of padding at all was apparent and there were only thin sheets to ward against the chill of the dungeon. There were no pillows.

René heard a soft cry coming from one of the beds. There was a girl lying there, curled up around her stomach. It looked like she was having a violent nightmare, but René knew that it was probably the pain that caused her restless thrashing.

Why would Dae put her in such a place? He seemed so kind and he gave her the power to become strong enough to protect people from monsters. So why . . . unless her dream was true—

"Uhh!" René groaned. Every time she thought about her past, every time she questioned what Dae had told her, her head pounded harder, and this made the rest of her body hurt even more. The cold, damp floor wasn't helping one bit. René decided to follow the other girl's example and try to sleep.

Her muscles protested as she slowly pulled herself up using the wall as support. It felt like white-hot wire had weaved itself into her veins. When she reached the bed she was sweating and panting. Nothing had ever seemed as hard or painful as this in her life! She doesn't remember anything from her past, but she knows that her life was good and mostly pain free. Not like this mess. Tears formed in her eyes as she lowered herself onto her wooden pallet. She just hurt so much! René closed her eyes and cried.

"Hey," a pained voice whispered. "Shh, it's okay. We'll get through this." The other girl was looking at her, but she hadn't moved much. "What's your Name?"

"R-René," she sniffed.

"I'm Amelia." Her breathing, increased and she closed her bloodshot eyes in pain. "Hurts." She whimpered.

"Yeah," René gasped. "Try to sleep. Try. Make pain . . . go away." She curled into a ball and allowed the pain to carry her mind into oblivion.

"_What is your name?"_

_René refused to answer the man who had caused the destruction of her home. Something cold but into her arm, drawing blood, then her neck. René cried out in pain and told him her name._

_"You will keep these scars forever now, René, but you won't remember how you got them." His scarred face gave a smirk that made him look evil under the shadow of his hood. "After this, you won't remember anything."_

_Pain._

_Her mind was fading._

_"Survive. And live. Live for us . . . " The voice echoed throughout the hollow spaces of her consciousness._

_Emily . . ._

She woke up.

Amelia was looking at her strangely.

"What?"

"You were mumbling in your sleep. You said—"

"I remember!" René shouted excitedly.

"Huh?"

"Yeah! I said: 'Emily'."

"Who's that?"

"I . . . don't remember." René frowned.

"Then why did you say-"

"Because I can't remember anything at all from my past." René painfully sat up and leaned against the wall. "Only, I've been having these dreams where Dae, this horrible, scarred man injected me with something to make me forget." René cried out in pain and clutched her head. "It hurts," she groaned. "Hurts whenever I try to remember."

"Damn." Amelia whispered. "That's awful. But . . . Why do you think you would have these dreams and headaches if it weren't-"

René screamed

"True . . . ."

_René was back in her dream, chained to the cold stone table. The monstrously scarred man demanded to know her name, but René wouldn't give it. He cut her twice: above the vein on her forearm and on the hollow of her throat._

_"You will forget your past, René." The needle went into her brain._

She awoke from her dream state drenched in sweat and panting for breath. Shakily, she lifted her left arm and saw a prominent scar above her vein.

"H-hey, Amelia." He stuttered. "Do I-do I have a scar right here?"

"Yeah . . ."

"No," René whispered. "It was real."

"What? I can't hear you."

"My dreams were real. Dae really did something to me to make me forget my past."

"Damn," Amelia whispered. "So he's not only turning us into monsters, he made you forget everything. Why would he do that?"

"Monsters? But he said he was giving me the power to fight the monsters! Dae said . . . Damn that bastard! I can't trust anything Dae says!"

Amelia took pity on her. "They're turning us into silver-eyed witches. Claymores. Half-human, half-Yoma. Yoma," she spat. "I will destroy the Yoma! It ate my family." She sobbed. "Half-Yoma . . ."

René was uncomfortable. She didn't know what to do or how to comfort someone. She didn't think that she ever did.

"Die." It was so quiet that René hardly heard her mumble "could just let myself get killed."

Anger flushed through René's heart and she forced her body up. Walking was agony, but she made it to the other side of the room. She grabbed Amelia's shoulders and shook her roughly.

"Ah! Ow!" Amelia glared at her.

"Don't ever think like that," René growled. "Don't ever think of death as a way out. 'Survive and live'! I remember that. Emily said it." Her voice was getting quieter. "I remember." She collapsed onto Amelia's bed.

Amelia gave a faint smile and helped René to sit up. "Idiot," she chided.

"Ach! It's all your faults, Amelia!" She glared up at the ceiling. "Now I hurt even more!"

"How do you think I feel? You shook me!" Their eyes met and they burst out laughing.

"Oi! Will you two flower heads shut up! I'm trying to bare my pain in silence." The voice came from behind the wall that they were leaning against.

"Oh, shut up, Noel. At least someone got over being imprisoned in this God awful place. My name is Sophia by the way."

"René."

"My name is Amelia."

The minute of awkward silence that followed was broken by Noel. "What is 'imprisoned'?"

The three girls burst out laughing.

"W-what?" Noel asked, confused.

It seems that even throughout all of this torture they've been put through, they can still find good things to laugh about.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_**Holy cow! I just gotta say that I was kinda right about the operation the organization does to make its warriors O.o**_

_Who am I? _René thought. Everyone here knows who they are. They can remember their past, sad though it is, and reminisce on the good times they've had with their families. René had none of that. All she can recall is the pain she's been in these past few days. She supposed that her family was killed by a yoma like Noel, Sophia, and Amelia, though she hoped that her whole village wasn't wiped out like Amelia said hers was.

René fell into a depression. Her pain was both physical and psychological. She gradually stopped interacting with her new friends and her head constantly hurt from restraining her tears. She didn't want to be seen crying. She didn't want there to be any reason to cry at all. Slowly, ever so slowly, she locked away her emotions deep inside of herself and put out an image of apathy. She just didn't care anymore.

"Hey, you're starting to really look like a Claymore!" Amelia exclaimed.

"You said the same yesterday," René said monotonously.

Amelia sighed, but kept up her cheerful façade. Maybe, just maybe, she could be happy enough for the both of them. René had helped her so much before she had fallen into that depression and now Amelia wanted to help her. She didn't hurt nearly so much anymore, in fact, she hardly hurt at all now. So what was wrong with René? Was it something about her past? But she doesn't remember it, Amelia thought.

"No, really!" she said. "Your hair is a really, _really_ light blond and your eyes are totally silver now." Almost as an afterthought she added, "It was really strange watching you change."

"Huh."

Amelia waited for René to elaborate, to at least make a complete sentence, a joke or even a comparison like she would have before she fell into this fit of melancholy, but nothing was forthcoming. "Well . . .?" she asked, trying to get more out of her sad friend.

"Huh?"

Amelia sighed. "What about me! How do I look now?"

René glanced at her worried friend. "White hair," she sighed sadly. Amelia though that she was about to make up a joke but didn't have to heart to. She frowned slightly as René continued. "Silver eyes. Ears are kinda pointy." Rene raised an eyebrow but said nothing else on that matter. "I'm going to sleep." She got up from 'her' corner of the room and lay on her bed facing the wall.

"Oi, René!" Noel suddenly called. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Silence.

"Oi!" she yelled, "You better stop being so . . . so far away from us! Talk to us Damn it!"

René closed her eyes tightly and ignored her. She just didn't feel like it.

"Hey!"

"Just shut up, Noel!" Sophia growled. "If she wants to be like that and give up on her life because of a few lost memories, then let her!"

They went to sleep. Their transformations into what the people called Claymores were now complete.

That was the last time any of the girls all throughout the holding cells could sleep peacefully, or as peacefully as being in a dank, moldy dungeon and in terrible pain would allow. Early the next morning a terrible screeching sound traveled easily throughout the damp air, the sound of sharp metal screaming against slate. The screech barged into the girls' cells and into their sleeping ears. Throughout the dungeon, girls were jumping out of their hard wooden pallets or falling out of them. Some girls screamed at the rude infraction to their newly sensitive ears while others just clutched at their ears in pain, trying to dampen the sound.

René fell out of her pallet onto the cold stone floor meaning and clutching at her head. She distantly heard Amelia screaming and Noel in a horribly high pitched voice scream "What the hell is this? Make it stop!"

And then, when René thought she could take no more of this racked and she felt that her eardrums were about to burst, it stopped.

The silence was deafening.

For the first time in many days, all of the holding cell doors opened almost at once. Four men wrapped up in black cloth stood stiffly on the other side. René glanced at Amelia in surprise and slowly stood up.

"Come," one of the men ordered. "It is time for your training to begin."

René wasn't so sure about this 'training', but she was tired of being in this dungeon. She wanted to see the sun again. She covered the few steps to Amelia, who was still wincing on the floor and helped her to her feet.

"Let's get out of here." Amelia nodded.

The sunlight was unimaginably bright. It peeked through little square windows and shared its light and warmth to all of the girls who were bereft of it in the dungeon. They still did not receive the full glory of the sun, they were inside, walking down long hallways of stone-like clay, but every time René walked by the interval windows, and the sun rays warmed her skin, she closed her eyes in bliss. _The sun, at least_, René thought, _will always be a constant in my life._

"You know," Amelia said quietly, "maybe this isn't so bad."

René raised an eyebrow in disbelief but nodded slightly, "Maybe." That one word carried all of the weight of René's hope and longing for her past and her future. She desperately wanted to be able to move on, to burn brightly forward like the sun, but just couldn't forget about her forgotten past.

A random girl suddenly bounded up to them. she was slightly tall for her age and had short, messy, blonde hair, with the same silver eyes they all now shared. An older, more mature looking girl followed calmly in her trail. Her hair was slightly past shoulder length and wavy, but neatly kept.

The first girl spoke excitedly, "I heard you talkin' and you sound exactly like Amelia and René!" she looked at them questioningly. "Well, are you?"

René blinked in surprise. She would know that annoying voice anywhere, now. The older girl must be Sophia. "Yeah . . . . Noel?"

"Yep, yep!"

"So we finally meet face to face," Sophia said companionably. "It's good to see you two," she smiled. Then her eyes narrowed. "You better not bring your depressing attitude out here, René."

"Uhm . . ." René rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

"Get a move on!" one of the men in black cloth ordered.

They arrived in a large room, the size of a ball room, but not nearly a pretty, supported by nine clay columns. A man, also dressed in black stepped from the shadows. His face was marred by scars and his big hands looked like they could crush the bones of any one of the young girls here. His feet were bare and René could see the disgusting, disjointed shape of his toes which must have been broken many times but had never healed properly. Black trousers hung loosely from his hips and black bandages were wrapped around his middle, leaving his chest bare. A short buzz of hair peppered his tanned head and he wore dark shades of his eyes. This man was the biggest, most intimidating man René had ever seen and his permanent-looking scowl was not helping. His very appearance caught the attention of every girl in the room who stared at him in horrified anticipation.

With a gravely and rough voice he spoke: "I will be your master at arms. I am here to teach you the basics of swordsmanship so you at least have a fighting chance to survive against the yoma." He swept his arm out to a dark corner of the room. "Now grab a practice sword and make two lines in front of me. Make sure there's lots of room between you all."

The 'practice' swords turned out to be exact wooden representations of a full warrior's claymore. At her turn, René lifted one from the barrel. It was surprisingly light for a giant weapon made of thick wood. It would definitely hurt to be hit by this for all its weight. René just hoped that they would never have to fight each other with real claymores. With this unfamiliar weight in her hand, René walked to her place in the line forming in front of their new teacher. Soon, the two lines were complete and each girl held their own sword with different levels of awkwardness. They waited for instruction.

The man stared at them all – gauging their potential, René guessed – for what seemed like hours. René soon got bored of just standing there and holding her sword out like an idiot. What was the point of this? Why didn't their teacher, well, _teach_ anything? This awkwardness was causing René to become fidgety. She shuffled her feet around, but that wasn't enough movement for her. She had a wooden sword in her for god's sake and she wanted to use it. So she did, but only slightly because everyone else was barely moving. She held her wrist strait and rotated her sword in small, tight circles. Their teacher didn't say anything about it and hadn't made a single movement for all this time so René assumed that it was okay. She made a small, halfhearted slash with her sword at the same time the girl behind her spoke up.

"Hey, teacher! Are you gonna teach us anything or what! I'm bored just standing around here and staring at your ugly face." The girl standing beside her gave a surprised gasp and everyone turned to stare at the cause of the outburst.

The culprit was a girl about René's ages with full, long, wavy locks a darker shade of blonde. Her arrogant silver eyes gazed challengingly at the teacher.

"Witch!" the man suddenly barked. "You will address me with respect! By the likes of you _half-breeds_," he sneered, "I will be called 'Master'. Nothing else." He moved suddenly, drawing his own practice sword from somewhere behind him. There must be some kind of device on his back to hold his sword there, René thought.

He strode forward towards René and made a wide slash with his sword at chest level. René barely managed to jump back in time before getting clopped with the wood. The sword passed by where she was standing, brushing lightly across her left shoulder and slammed into the unfortunate girl standing beside her who was totally unprepared for the blow. She went down gasping in pain. 'Master' didn't stop. He went straight on to the girl behind René who had spoken up and swung at her head. The girl's eyes widened in surprise and she clumsily brought her own sword up to block his attack. Her arms shook with the force of the blow. He swung again and again, harder each time. And each time the girl's sword was falling closer to herself under its weight. The rest of the girls were too shocked at his sudden action to move. The girl that had been knocked to the floor finally stopped gasping for breath and pushed her long, strait, silver hair from her face revealing pointy ears. She also stared at the scene with shock.

_Crack!_

The man had slammed both of their swords into the girl's shoulder. She winced as her arm was popped out of its socket. 'Master' smirked and continued the beating. _This isn't right_, René thought. _She was holding her own at first, but she still doesn't' know how to properly use that sword. He,_ apparently, _is a master._ René had to do something! No one else looked like they would. The master managed to knock the wavy haired girl to the ground. She cried out softly in pain and struggled to stand up. Another slash of the sword and her arm was hit out from underneath her.

"Ah!" the girl looked up at the attacker in anger and pain.

"This," the man sneered, "should teach you a lesson in respect." He prepared to strike again.

René's world came crashing to a stop. Her head was spinning. Spinning around those words: _teach you a lesson_. "I think they learned their lesson," the black cloaked man said. René's world had ended at that moment. In this moment now, her world will begin again. The wheel of time continued on its course.

"No!" René suddenly screamed. The master jerked in surprise, missing the target of his attack.

"What," the man snarled, "is the meaning of this?"

". . . Lesson." René muttered to the floor.

"What?"

She looked up at the man slowly, her silver eyes showing pain and anger beyond belief. "That's how it ended," she whispered. "Those were the last words of my life."

"Huh?"

"I . . . I won't let it happen again," she said stubbornly.

The master glared at René and raised his sword at her. "I don't know that the hell you're talking about, you crazy bitch, but that's what you're all here for. To learn a fucking lesson in swordsmanship!" he charged, heavy practice sword raised high set to smash down on her head.

René's eyes widened in fear and she jumped to the side, turning sideways as well to avoid the wooden blade. With wide, fearful eyes she watched as the sword came crashing down an inch from her nose to clang harshly against the uneven clay floor. The master took it all in stride and used the momentum left over from his previous swing to fuel his next one in a single liquid movement. The speed of it was incredible and though René tried to jump out of the way, she was still new to this and to this new half-yoma body. She wasn't fast enough to escape free from damage. René doubled over in pain and tried to breath. Her breathes were ragged, she could hardly get her precious air from the pain in her ribs. Her vision was hazy, her head spinning.

"René!" She faintly heard Amelia scream but she could do nothing about it. She couldn't move away. His next attack came as quickly and fluidly as the last. A thrust to her gut had her on the floor before she could recognize this new pain. Blood surged up from inside of her stomach and came out with a hacking cough. Dear god, she felt like she was being torn apart from the inside out.

The master spat then lifted René up by the front of her shirt and roughly shook her, "I'm trying to teach you proper sword skills, witch, but you haven't even brought up you sword to defend yourself." He threw her to the ground in disgust and she cried out in breathless pain. René gasped desperately for breath, every gasp bringing shards of horrible agony all throughout her being. "Pathetic," he growled. "You're a Silver-Eyed Witch, now. Get up and fight!"

"You!" he turned to the first girl he had attacked. She had somehow managed to relocate her shoulder and was softly rubbing it to lessen the pain. She looked at him defiantly and smirked, "Yeah, Teach?"

"Aurgh!" he roared and charged again at the wavy-haired girl who quickly brought up her sword to guard against the attack.

"Bastard!" René growled out, gasping for breath and struggling to sit up.

Suddenly, gentle hands were on her shoulders helping her up. "René," she heard Amelia sigh. Noel and Sophia weren't far behind. They all helped her to stand, ignoring her pained curses. She leaned heavily against a pillar.

"Ooo hoo! You really got beat bad!" Noel exclaimed.

"Shut up, Noel," René growled.

Sophia looked thoughtfully at René and said sadly, "so you really did lose the will to live."

René looked at her in surprise then replied angrily, "No! I'm not going to just die!"

"I know that, but you're also not going to fight as hard for your place in life. You really don't care anymore." Sophia said in wise seriousness. The power of her gaze kept René's eyes locked to hers. The anger slowly faded from René replaced with sadness and she was finally able to look away.

"You . . . you just gave up?" Amelia asked sadly.

"I . . ."

"No! I never thought you would ever give up! You were the one who told me to survive, to keep living, and with such conviction, too. I can't believe you, René! After it was your confidence was the thing that kept me going."

René looked down in shame. "I have nothing left," she said quietly. "No past and no real future. What's the point of trying so hard for that?"

Slap!

René's head was hit to the side. Her right cheek red and singing. "Wha?"

"Don't talk like that!" Amelia hissed. "You have us, your new friends, and a new life that will be whatever you make of it. Don't throw your life and our friendship away!"

René looked up in surprise. She gazed at the faces of each of her new friends: Noel who wasn't very bright but had a lot of heart; Sophia who could be harsh but was always there for you, and Amelia. She had been through the transformation with René. They had helped each other through it and now she was helping her again.

"You're all right," René smiled sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Enough of this mushy stuff!" Noel exclaimed. "Now go and beat up that jumpy bastard who beat you up so bad!"

"Jumpy?"

"René," Sophia said seriously. "We're Claymores now and Claymores can heal themselves from the most grievous of wounds. I've seen it happen before . . . before . . . ." she cleared her throat. "Well, you can do it. And don't forget to use the weapons at your disposal." With her toe, she nudged at the sword that was somehow still clasped in René's hand.

Suddenly René laughed. Even though it hurt her ribs even more she still laughed. "You're right," she managed between fits of laughter. "You're right! I can't believe I forgot!" Her friends looked at her strangely but smiled at her change of heart.

René's laughter ended with her coughing up blood. The master must've hurt her more than she originally thought.

"René!"

"Damn, it hurts! Okay, I'll try to heal myself," she said bravely, her confidence and will to live back now and stronger than ever.

René could feel the power of the monster that was put inside of her. It felt . . . unnatural and disgusting to say the least. She drew on those powers, though. She brought this foreign energy to the surface, to her wounds and imagined them healing. In her mind's eye she put her broken ribs back together and healed the internal damage done to her gut. Inside of her broken body, she felt her bones reconnect with this yoma power and meld back together, and felt as her stomach wound was healed inside. This power coursed through her veins, and even though it hurt, for some reason it also felt so good. Her body was healed now, even the redness of her cheek, so she reluctantly let go of this immense power. She suppressed it back under her skin into her veins, hidden underneath the façade of a human appearance. Even though it felt good, it still disturbed her and she didn't think it was a good idea to give into it. She didn't want to have anything to do with the monster then was absolutely necessary. When she thought about it now, it was vile.

But for now. . . "I'm good," René said shakily.

**Hello whoever reads this! xD plz plz plz review! I like constructive criticism. tell me if you like the story and how it's written and what i need to improve on.**

**Thank ye kindly :D**


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